1877 



SUPPLEMENT TO GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



jjownd in the boxes, and at prebent, we regard it as the 

 ««a8ier ot the two ways. 

 4^1;KEN UKMiltiii AND AKTIKICIAL SWARMING. 

 i)o not comnnuwe any such work before your hives ; 

 jire all full of bcca, and are gelling lioney, and we; 

 .really feel like advising you not to do it then, it will ' 

 be mncli the moie prolitablc way for you to build j 

 them all up strong, an I then, if they u<ilf " pilch right , 

 !in " and gatlier lioney, let them do it by all means: j 

 and <toii't ruin both Vourself and bees by untimely I 

 *• tinkering," even if the books <-?<.! say it can be done I 

 without injury. II you (Ind a colony that is deter- j 

 mined to swarm, it may do to divide them. During ! 

 «.lie hooey season we want all han<is at work ; after it j 

 2S passed and our hives arc full of bees with nothing 1 

 pnrticular to do, we can set them to rearing <iueens. i 

 <>no "rousing big"' colony will then furnish bees i 

 t'oough for a doeen nuclei, if you really iiiu.sf fuss with 

 little ewarms of Ixjes; but it you will lie guiiled by us, 

 you will, if i)ossible, luive only strong slocks, and you 

 •<;an always nmke it possible in warm weather. In the j 

 .spring we are obliged to use division boards, and to i 

 nurse up weak stocks, but it we always Isad strong i 

 ones in the fall, tliere might he less of this. ' 



Dooiittle says, in regard to comb honey, "If a col- j 

 imy swarms, it does vfcU ; if it don't swarm, it does | 

 bettei'." The best way we know of to get along with 

 «.hc swarm, is to shake it in front ot the hive it came ] 

 from, afler it (ihe hive) has been carried to a new lo- 

 <-.atIon, This will satisfy them, and they will work in 

 iioxes or for tlie extractor prodigiously. Even if your 

 object is increase of stock, we would advise keeping 1 

 them in their old hives as long as you can during the 1 

 honey season ; but instead of the extractor or boxes, ; 

 put on au upper story, and secure as many combs full 

 or pai'tly full ot lioney as you can. When the yield 

 iicgina to slacken, make your colonies, au<l give them 

 a. house well furnished to start with. I 



HOW TO GET GOOD QUEEN CELLS. | 



These should be on hand from June until Oct., and i 

 to secure tliem. you are to put once in ten days or of- ] 

 tener, a clean worker comb in the midst of the colony | 

 containing your imported or best queen. When it con- ) 

 tains larvae just large enough to be visible, place it in I 

 11 queenless colony, and in lo days from the time the 1 

 Jirst eggs were laid in this comb— look sharp— you are 

 in cut out the queen cells, or place the whole comb in I 

 the lamp nursery— see Lamp nu.isepy. If thelormer] 

 plan, insert the cells in combs of hatching bees, (from j 

 other hives) one in each, and these are ready to be put i 

 into queenless colonies or nuclei. If you wish to be 

 sure the bees will not tear them down, cut them out - 

 days earlier, and leave them, combs of brood and all, 

 in the hive in which the cells were built, until the 15th 

 day, as mentioned; you can then quietly carry the 

 • •omb, bees, queen cell and all, where you wish it. 



ARTIFICIAL SWARMING 



Is simply collecting combs covered with bees and 

 broo'l, one ea<;h from several hives, and putting them 

 in a new hive, with one of our combs containing a 

 <|ueen cell. If we get the bees lYom several hives, 

 they seem to be so bewildered that they all join 

 peaceably, and we have no fighting at all. After the 

 vjueen Is hatche<i and has commenced laying, your 

 colony is made. 



ROBBING 



Will rarely trouble you unless you carelessly leave 

 hon«y scattered about the apiary, or fuss with weak 

 stocks or nuclei that are unable to protect themselves. 

 IfS^ou find a colony being robbed, stop up the en- 

 trance as quickly as possible, and if everything else 

 about the apiary in the shape of sweets is secure, they 

 will soon forget about it and stop. Just before dark 

 Iftt the robbers go home, and if your colony does not 

 take care of itself next day, either break it up or give I 

 it bees from some other. It may at times be best to 

 '■■lose the hive for several days until some of the young 

 bees are old enough to stand guard. As a general 

 rule, robbers, moth worms, and almost all other 

 troubles, are the result of trying to nurse up weak 

 colonies. For all these evils a pint of Italians are 

 worth more than tvro quarts of common bees. 

 ijjwakingol shutting the lii\"e reminds us of 



ENTRANCES. 

 If your colonies are strong, you are not likely lo need to 

 <'l.)sc the eidrance once in five years, and why should we 

 ■fiH^umhcr each hive with some complicated rigging that 

 wo are very likely to never use * The entrance to the 

 Sini|)lic'ity hive is made by pushing the hive forward on 

 the hoitom board, as Siji'ii in cut on first page. If the cii- 

 tnnee does not exceed '; there will be no danger of mice 

 J!;ftttinK in. If it r's necessary to close a hive, we ('."in do it 

 <iuickly with a piece of newspaper, and if wc '.vish it Tcry 

 s"e«r!s, we can bank the savTdust U2' o^er it. 



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